Startup Offers Failed Entrepreneurs A Million-Dollar Signing Bonus

A startup called Twice is offering a $1 million cash and equity signing bonus to anyone who launched a startup through accelerator programs Y Combinator, 500 Startups, or TechStars and now needs another job.

Twice is calling it a $1 million "acqui-hire."

It's a smart move.

People who "failed" at their own startup—funded by Y Combinator, 500 Startups, TechStars, or not—are coming away with tons of useful experience Twice can benefit from.

San Francisco, CA --October 8, 2012 --Twice, the first concierge-style marketplace for buying and selling secondhand fashion, today announced the launch of Restart Fund, which will offer $1MM to acquire any Y Combinator, 500 Startups, or TechStars company or similarly well-qualified team. Most Silicon Valley insiders are familiar with Start Fund, which provides $150,000 in funding to every graduating Y Combinator startup, and the name Restart Fund is a tongue-in-cheek nod to this initiative.

Since its inception nearly two years ago Start Fund has proven to be a savvy move, but it has also fueled a spurt in seed funding that has resulted in many promising teams unable to raise a Series A. And even in the best of times, popular wisdom holds that 9 out of 10 startups fail -- often due to circumstances well outside their founders' control. The Restart Fund is a bold step toward filling this gap in the startup ecosystem--bringing top-notch engineering and design talent together to focus on a business with proven traction, a large market, and ample resources.

"Given the current state of Silicon Valley's hiring environment, it's a super smart move for Twice to acquire a talented team with proven execution ability but whose own products haven't found traction," said Elad Gil, founder of Mixer Labs, former Twitter VP, and Twice investor.

Restart Fund was developed by Twice's founders based on their personal experiences as entrepreneurs. "My co-founder Calvin and I quit our jobs at Google and began working on a micropayments business, but we were never able to hit product/market fit. We were left wondering what to do," said Noah Ready-Campbell, CEO of Twice. "We were approached by several big companies about talent acquisitions, but we knew we still wanted to work on something that had a lot of opportunity for growth. If Restart Fund had been around, it would have been a very interesting option."

Due to the rigorous application process, membership in a top startup accelerator is the primary criterion for an offer from Restart Fund, though acquired teams must also pass Twice's standard hiring screens. "We were accepted into Y Combinator, so we saw firsthand the quality of our peer companies," explained Twice CTO Calvin Young. "This happened right around the time our micropayments business was slowing down, so we ultimately chose to decline YC, but some of the best engineers I've ever met have gone through the program."

This engineering strength is the primary reason Twice chose to create Restart Fund, as the operational nature of the company's business poses significant technical challenges to overcome. "In order to take photos efficiently, for example, we've had to develop many custom image processing tools, and basically ended up building our own internal Instagram," explained Mr. Young. Given that the company sells clothing, the look and feel of its site is extremely important. "In our view, designers are without question as important to the product team as engineers," he added.